Ubisoft thinking of copying EA's Online Pass?

[YouStayClassy]

They're sure thinking about it.

http://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-c...e-174045.phtml


I just want to add, this is a rather biased article but I've read the story on other sites as well so it sure sounds legit.

As I've said elsewhere, in Ubisoft's case they make actual games and not yearly Roster Updates like EA Sports, but still.... what a troubling trend this could become.

[Slam Da Brakes]

Now THQ too

It is spreading and I am surprised EA didn't patent the idea.

[YouStayClassy]

Originally Posted by Slam Da Brakes

Now THQ too

It is spreading and I am surprised EA didn't patent the idea.

Un-FREAKING-real.

That comment section was hilarious, especially the guy who said buying a used copy from Gamestop is identical to illegally torrenting a game off the net. I would LOVE to have some of the crack people smoke nowadays....

[XxB3asti3xX]

Originally Posted by YouStayClassy

Un-FREAKING-real.

That comment section was hilarious, especially the guy who said buying a used copy from Gamestop is identical to illegally torrenting a game off the net. I would LOVE to have some of the crack people smoke nowadays....

Gotta love the idiots if nothing else there good for a laugh.

I still don't get how used games are any different than other material possessions that are allowed to be sold used every day. Whats next is Microsoft going to release codes with a new 360 so they cant be bought used. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut so they don't get any ideas.

On a separate note if this does catch on with all of the major developers it will be a serious blow to the big used game stores. Might be enough to eliminate some of them as I know my local Gamestop has at least 75% used games. They have one section of new games to every three of used.

[YouStayClassy]

That's exactly what they want. Their dream is all Gamestops and Blockbusters and Gameflys and whatnot all go out of business. Their ultimate fantasy is to get away with serial keys for all games or online only distribution. It reminds me EXACTLY of the RIAA's greed that has ravaged the CD sales industry.

What I find amusing about all the complaining about used video game sales is summed up by the Crackdown guys:

"With Crackdown we sold about 1.5 million copies, but even at that we pretty much only managed to break even," Jones said. "It was due to the amount of factors that were out of our control as the developer, influences such as GameStop's amazing used-game sales; we know 1.5 million new copies were sold, but it's likely there were 2.5, three million sold when you include used."

(http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/16/1-...even-for-real/)

Perhaps they should have spent less time blaming Gamestop and more their own subpar game? Maybe it would have sold more if it was better? I mean, that can't possibly be it can it?

NBA Live for EA Sports year after year constantly gets bad reviews and is ALWAYS outsold the NBA 2K series, but what's EA's solution to this? Try to improve the game so it'll actually be, like, fun to play? No let's try to FORCE people to buy it new instead of renting it.

I never hear the publishers of games like Call of Duty, Halo, or Gears of War complaining about used sales destroying their fortunes. It's always companies that make lousy games bitching about profits, but they're just too blind or stupid to make the connection apparently.

[YouStayClassy]

And something I have yet to see addressed is early sales by companies like Amazon.com, Walmart, or Toys R Us. Many of these companies have insane deals on brand new titles either on launch day or less than a month after the game's release. I got Battlefield Bad Company 2 almost half off from Toys R Us like a week after it came off, and this screws over the publisher as bad as used game sales.

Waiting to see how they work around this one? Forcing you to order directly from the company? Perhaps making a special edition of the game on their website for $90 that has all the features while selling a barebones "demo" version at retail?

the thing that bugs me most about this issue is how ea has gone about starting this trend. if they actually made a case that this was going to improve the servers or gaming experience i could see not being as opposed to this as i am now. ea has had the balls to release a dlc pack for dantes inferno that lasted at most 20 minutes and cost $5. they released a dlc pack for army of two:tfd that contained an issue with achievements unlocking properly if you had previously earned multiplayer achievements. to top it off they told ao2 customers it was a user error. a patch has yet to be released, but is "forthcoming." the same issues can be brought up about the original ufc game. after the major title update for that game, it glitched online achievements making the challenges impossible to attain.

this is where i as a gamer have come to a crossroads. i understand what they want and why they want to implement these things into new and forthcoming games. all these companies have showed me is that this isnt based on anything but greed at this point so i have chosen to in no way support this. ive canceled preorders for ufc and tiger woods.

i know that the achievement community doesnt make up a high percentage of gamers. our community wouldnt make a huge impact on overall sales. i hope people that are saying that this doesnt affect them because they always buy new take notice that this does affect them. this is the game companies trying to push boundaries to see how far they can go with this type of thing. if we let it happen, we can expect to see increased prices on dlc that will probably get shorter, increases on xbla games, paid demos, and things of this nature. i just hope people inform themselves about this stuff